Notes: Alright, so this is the mission bit. I've never been great at writing missions so please give me your honest opinions of this, and the following, chapters.

Chapter Thirty Seven

Though they weren't exactly the best judges of time, the Roses estimated that they'd been waiting for approximately before a low, rumbling sound started to become apparent, flickering on and off in the manner that they'd long since become accustomed to. They all stood up, reaching automatically for weapons or, in Kar's case, creating a fizzing ball of electricity.

A thin line began to appear on the ground, spreading out like a shadow. They stared at it as it grew, both in length and width. After a moment they realised that one side of the shadow was a fraction higher than the rest of the ground.

They watched, feeling tension and adrenalin flood their bodies, as the large ramp raised itself from the ground, revealing a broad metal walkway half-hidden in shadows. A military jeep was slowly making its way towards them, holding three soldiers.

"Rogue?"

Rogue waited, feeling her breath hitch in her throat a little, until the Jeep was half into the sunlight. Then she blew out an explosive breath and nodded. Selene, Ivy and Alistor all moved forward, flicking the safeties off their guns. They stood, barrels not quite touching the temples of the soldiers, and then nodded once.

Jamie raised her hands, focused her concentration, and then made a violent jerking motion. The other three were ready, pulling the triggers immediately and then jumping out the way as the Jeep slammed forward, the dead soldier's foot still on the gas peddle.

They didn't talk, barely looked at each other, just ran inside with guns drawn, shooting down the soldiers they ran across without even stopping. Michelle was considerably slower than the others because she was half-supporting Jamie.

"You sure you're up for this?" she asked, turning down a side-corridor and shooting a soldier in the chest.

"I don't have a choice," Jamie replied quietly, staring at her feet as she walked.

"I could hotwire a truck, maybe. At least then you wouldn't have to walk."

"I can't maintain a bubble around a fast-moving object, you know that."

"So we'll drive slow. Can you handle about ten miles an hour?"

Jamie frowned for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, should be able to do that."

"Cool. Oh shit!"

Michelle pushed Jamie roughly to the side with one hand, aiming and shooting with the other. One soldier fell down, twitching, and Michelle threw herself to the side, feeling a bullet graze her arm, leaving a grail of burning pain. She cursed again, squeezing the trigger despite knowing that her bullet wouldn't hit anything major. Still, it was enough to distract him for a moment, clutching his thigh with desperate hands. She lunged forward, slamming the butt of her gun into the brunette's chin before spinning and punching the other guard. Her knuckles stung fiercely but she ignored it as she grabbed a gun from the floor and shot the remaining guards. She stood still for a moment, panting, whole body trembling.

Then her eyes fell on Jamie, who lay crumpled on the floor, eyes only half open. A light touch brushed against her shields and she foolishly let it into her heart, nearly collapsing as mind-numbing exhaustion washed through her body. Her whole being ached, mind body and soul, and she just wanted to sleep, curl up somewhere and let it all go, just rest for a little bit, she couldn't go on anymore…

Gritting her teeth, she pushed she emotions back outside her shields, running quickly through a breathing exercise to help distance herself from Jamie, who was watching her with distant eyes.

"God, Jamie, you can't do this," Michelle whispered, walking over to the girl and helping her into a sitting position.

"Have to," Jamie mumbled. "No choice. Let's go."

Michelle grimaced, wanting to say no, this is ridiculous, you can't go on. But she didn't say that, because she knew that Jamie really did have no choice. Without Jamie, she didn't stand a chance of getting the prisoners out of danger and if they lost the prisoners, any other victory would be hollow and meaningless.

Sighing, Michelle helped Jamie to her feet and hooked an arm around the younger girl's waist, walking slowly down the corridor. She forgot about the wounds she'd received until she became aware of the warm blood trickling slowly down her arm. She glanced at it, looking at the tear in her sleeve and the bright crimson stain. Then she just shrugged one shoulder and carried on walking.

(0)

By the time they reached the containment cells, Jamie could barely walk and Michelle was down to her last three bullets in her Beretta. Apparently, the sirens blaring and lights flashing had alerted the guards to something wrong because as soon as they stepped around the corner, the guards opened fire on them. Michelle cursed and flattened herself against the wall, holstering her Beretta and taking hold of the mini-Uzi strapped to her back. She took a deep breath and fired a short burst blindly around the corner, just enough to make the guards take cover. She darted around the corner and ran forwards, waiting until the guards peeked over the upturned desk they'd been using as cover. She squeezed the trigger, fighting the recoil of the gun, and tried not to look as the bullets ripped open the guards' skulls in sprays of red blood and grey brain matter.

The sudden descent of silence after so much gunfire made her ears ring and she shook her head, holding the gun in one hand as she walked back to Jamie. The girl hadn't moved and appeared to be asleep, but she opened her eyes as Michelle approached and tried to struggle to her feet, only to slump back to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Can you even use your powers?" Michelle asked, pulling Jamie to her feet and helping her walk.

"Yeah… Be alright…. So tired…"

Michelle grimaced at the faint breath of sound, feeling the younger mutant tremble with the effort of speaking. She sat Jamie down at the computer and kept one hand on her back to help her remain upright. Jamie whimpered and put her hands lightly on the keyboard, trying to keep them steady. Her typing was slow, her breathing laboured and her expression pained, but she still struggled on, staring intently at the screen all the time.

After several long, tense minutes a high-pitched alarm mixed with the others and Jamie slumped backwards into Michelle's arms.

"Done," she breathed, and Michelle set her gently on the floor before rushing off towards the containment cells.

The cell doors were all open but only a couple of mutants had wandered out, looking around cautiously. They didn't appear to be injured too badly-cuts and bruises and by the looks of it, one broken arm, but that was it. They were obviously the newest mutants, and they regarded Michelle with frightened eyes. She smiled reassuringly at them, slowing down to a walk.

"It's alright, I'm a good guy-I'm here to get you out of here."

It took a few minutes to organise the mutants who were dazed and confused. There was a teenaged girl with bloody, battered angel wings and Michelle asked if she was still capable of flying. When the answer was yes, she handed her one of the younger mutants and gave her directions to Mark's house. She also found the mutant who had teleported Mitchell from their basement so very long ago. It was a boy, barely thirteen years old, and Michelle quickly got him to teleport five of the more seriously injured mutants back to Mark. That left her with twenty mutants and she led them back out to Jamie, cradling a young girl in her arms.

They made it to the motor pool without too many difficulties. They crossed paths with Envee at one point and she explained that she'd been separated from Rogue. There was blood drying on her cheek and a slash across her upper-arm but she assured them she was fine before sprinting off down a side-corridor to continue her mission.

Michelle ushered the mutants into the back of a large truck and checked they were reasonable comfortable before helping Jamie into the passenger seat and climbing into the driver's seat herself. It was only the work of a minute to hotwire it and she said a quick prayer of thanks to Envee for teaching her how before she revved the engine and drove out into the open air. After a moment's silence she flicked on the radio to a pop music channel and heard one of the mutants utter a breathy burst of relieved laughter.